SuperCamp Gives Teens the Power to Make a Change

What if you could give your teenager a gift this summer that would build confidence, sharpen goals, ease peer relationships, strengthen academics, and perhaps make life easier at home?

And, did we mention empowering him or her to focus on something other than the closest screen?

SuperCamp offers 8- and 10-day academically based programs for students ages 12 to 20 at campuses such as Stanford University in Palo Alto, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California State University in San Marcos, Villanova University in Philadelphia and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Internationally, it hosts camps in 12 countries, and since 1982, has helped more than 70,000 students improve their academics, confidence and life skills.

With a student-to-staff ratio of 4-to-1, the 35-year-old program also helps students discover their best personalized learning styles. The skills they learn often lead to improved GPAs and test scores. Even so, SuperCamp is about so much more that academics, according to the students and their parents.

A big change in thinking

They describe it as “transformational” – a program that not only changes the way teens think about problems and solutions but also how they interact with adults and peers.

According to independent surveys of SuperCamp graduates, 73 percent of students report better grades one year after attending, 93 percent report improved peer relationships, and 81 percent feel more confident in their daily lives.

As one mother put it about her son’s 10 days at SuperCamp: “He was in an environment where like-minded people are on a visionary forward track.”

A different kind of learning

That “visionary track” is based on the Quantum Learning System, a method of teaching that helps teens explore their learning styles, goals, talents and barriers and is based on principles such as integrity, balance, commitment, ownership and flexibility. The system supports professional development for K-12 teachers around the United States and has had a positive impact on the lives of an estimated 10 million U.S. students.

SuperCamp is a program that provides kids the tools and courage to be leaders and problem-solvers and to advocate for themselves. It surrounds them with peers who value those skills.

SuperCamp is not about sitting in a classroom while everyone else is doing something fun all summer. The staff leaders have a minimum of 200 hours of training and learning takes place in all kinds of places – the outdoors, the stage, the dorm, the cafeteria – using learning techniques and tools such as collaboration, poetry, reality simulations and teambuilding. Campers get lessons in FIMAGE (fear of image), get coached in public speaking and receive tips to manage their online reputations.

The freedom of losing the screen

Campers relinquish their phones and other electronic devices for all but 20 minutes a day. While it’s often hard for teens to unplug, many say this is one of the best aspects of the camp. It turns SuperCamp into a place where a kid can be free from outside influences to make an about-face, to become a striver, to feel the wonder of setting a goal and reaching it. And it’s not just about success in school.

As one alumni said, “I learned that when you are confident and when you know what tools to use, then you will win the game of school and of life.”

See what SuperCamp can do and give your teen a summertime gift that will last for a lifetime.